Snow White and the Huntsman
by dragonwolfwriter1
Summary: This is my version of Snow White and the Huntsman from when Snow White first goes into the dark forest.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I do not own any of the characters in this story. Also, this is my first fanfic. So it might be awful. Please Review with tips and suggestions!**

Snow White stared at the beautiful white stallion slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the mud, tears pricking the edges of her eyes. She hated leaving the poor horse, not just because she hated death, but also because it had saved her. She could hear the queen's army getting closer and she finally forced herself to run. She ran deeper and deeper into the forest, each stride of her run becoming more and more desperate. Snow couldn't be caught by Ravenna's guards, couldn't let that awful queen have her heart. Suddenly the ground dipped down unexpectedly and snow tripped, falling hard. She landed in a strange patch of mushrooms that released a strange powder. Taking in a deep breath she inhaled much of the dust, it covered her throat and nose sending her into a coughing fit. It reminded her of when she was child sitting in the kitchen of the castle and after begging the cook she finally was given a small spoon of cinnamon to try and eat. But this was far worse, snow fell back onto the ground curling up and swallowing in attempt to rid her throat of the vile powder. Finally she stood up, only gently coughing now. Snow looked around the forest, suddenly she felt very dizzy and leaned on one of the trees, care full not to disturb the mushrooms again. But when she touched the tree, it seemed to slither under her hand. It was no tree! It was tower of snakes, hissing and glaring at her! Snow turned to run, but felt more and more dizzier, as she looked around she saw shadows floating and watching her, huge winged creatures came to life from the dead bushes. This couldn't be real she told herself, but it didn't seem like a fake. Snow White began to run again, despite how sick and exhausted she already felt. She looked around and saw more trees and branches to turn to snakes, and more shadows rise up to chase her. It seemed she was in one of her nightmares; the faster snow ran the more monsters seemed to chase her. Finally, from fatigue and the stress, Snow collapsed, unable to run any farther regardless of her mind screaming at her to run. As her eyes slowly forced themselves closed, she could see the snakes slithering back into trees and the shadows sinking to rest on the ground once more.

Huntsman point of view

Eric was suddenly awoken by ice cold water, his eyes flew open as he was pulled back out of a horses watering trough. He looked around confusedly at the men in dark armor, some riding atop strong black horses. Alcohol still clouding his mind, he vaguely remembered being in some fight, in some tavern, when the queens guards arrived. Then, the realization that it was the Queen Ravenna's guard standing around the watering trough hit him hard. He was in trouble, for whatever reason, whether it made sense or not, he was in trouble with the queen and was going to die. He could fell the guards pulling him up and dragging him towards the castle.

"Hey" Eric practically growled at the men in the black armor " I can walk". The guards released him, but prodded him with a spear to tell him to go. Eric glared at them before continuing. As they walked he silently wondered what he had done to get himself in this much of a mess. It could have been the bar fight, but why would the queen care about that. People were murdered every day out in the streets and she never so much as batted an eye. Or at least he didn't think she did. The guards forced Eric into the huge castle, until he was staring into the face of the queen. She was very beautiful Eric though, next to the throne stood Ravenna's hideous brother Finn.

"Kneel before your queen" Finn said to Eric.

Eric answered Finn angrily "I will not kneel, or bow before any witch". Eric had decided that if he was going to die he wanted to at least defy her. Finn nodded his head to the guards and they grabbed Erics shoulders, pushing him down, and kicking the backs of his knees so he couldn't help but kneel. Then one of the guards took hold of his head and shoved it down roughly, pain shot through his entire neck at this. To his amazement though the queen waved the guards off, Eric decided to stay kneeling so he wouldn't be shoved down again. The queen put her finger under his chin and slowly pulled his face up to meet hers. Eric tried to look away, causing Ravenna to hold his chin with her whole hand. Her skin was strange, it was not warm and soft, but instead cold and leathery, and it made Eric's skin crawl. He couldn't stand to look into her eyes. Her stare was worse than her touch; her blue eyes, so cold and unforgiving, sent shivers down his spine; it felt like the queen could see right through him. Eric waited for her to kill him, waited for her to do something that would stop his heart from beating. Then Queen let him go and turned around, quietly returning to her throne. Eric was shocked she had done nothing to him, he still couldn't look at her though, couldn't meet those cruel eyes.

"Huntsman" the queen said in an almost melodious voice "One of my prisoners has escaped into the dark forest; I want you to hunt the prisoner down and return them to me"

Eric laughed, "if he went into the forest than he is dead".

"She" the queen swiftly corrected.

Eric laughed harder "Then _she_" he said emphasizing the word "is certainly dead".

The queen stared at the ground for a moment, thinking "you will find her and return her to me".

Eric stopped chuckling and stared at the queen frowning "and if I refuse?" he asked. At that instant the guards surrounded him with spears once more, daring Eric to insult their precious queen once more. Eric glared at them before Ravenna's voice made him snap his head around to glare at her angrily.

"Find her for me and I will repay, greatly" the queen said sinisterly, "I will return to you, your beloved Sarah" The queen stared once again at Eric, who now stared at her stunned.

Eric mumbled to himself in disbelief for a few a moments before saying " I bring you th- this girl, and you bring back my wife for me" Eric asked, making sure he had heard this correctly.

"A life for a life" She said coldly.

Eric stared for few more moments than said loudly "I'll find her"

Eric, along with the guards that had escorted him to the castle and the queens brother Finn, arrived at the edge of the forest early that next morning. Eric quickly found boot prints, they were so small, he could tell immediately that they were from a women. He looked at the muck that acted as moat to the forest, it had consumed so many people, horses, animals, even most birds did not have the good fortune of escaping it.

Eric glanced at the men behind him and roughly said to them "she went this way, to get across you do exactly as I do" he started across the muck slowly, always testing his weight to make sure it wouldn't sink beneath him "and be quiet" he growled angrily to the noise behind him. Eric made it across long before any them would finish, so he continued his search for the girl. Her footprints were easy to follow thanks to the soft ground of the forest. Eric discovered that she had fallen into a patch of the forests mushrooms; he stepped carefully around them so they would not be disturbed and release the dust in them. He sighed thankful that she had fallen here. She would have breathed in much of the dust and might still be in the grip of the powerful hallucinations it caused when he found her. Than Eric could faintly hear the guards in the distance, attempting to make their way through the wood, to where he was. He cursed under his breath, hallucinating or not the girl would surely hear them and run away, than he would have to chase her, something Eric was not interested in. He turned following her trail once more, at much faster speed than before in attempt to get away from the guards. Eric knew it was around 11:00, he could tell by the position of the sun in the sky. He had found her, it had taken him longer than he had thought it would, she had run quite a good distance. She was still lying on the ground sleeping when he sat down next to her. The guards were far enough away where they were no threat, and finally got a chance to see what exactly he was handing back over to the queen. The girl was beautiful; of course all the women that the queen ever stole to keep in her castle were beautiful. But she was different. One could say her beauty almost rivaled that of the queen, with skin pale as snow, hair as black as raven's wing and lips and red as blossoming rose. Even with dirt covering her, and old worn out dress she wore he could see that she was truly beautiful. For a moment he felt a twinge of guilt, and wondered if his Sarah would want him to do this. The thought was quickly pushed out of Eric's mind as the girl slowly woke from the noise of the guards walking towards them.

Snow slowly waking up, when she heard something, it was footsteps, slowly coming closer to where she lay. She quickly sat up when someone grabbed her and roughly pulled her up. Snow stared into his face terrified; it was a huntsman, obviously sent by the queen to capture her. Snow struggled to twist her arm free of his iron grip as he dragged her to the queen's brother. The moment she met Finns gaze and his malicious smile she became even more fearful and tried more desperately to escape. Her sudden jump to get away took Eric by surprise and he had to drag the girl back to him, he stared at her for a moment, his heart sank when he saw how scared of Finn she was. What had done to her? He knew girls would act this way about the queen, but he had never heard of them being so scared of her brother,

"Well done huntsman" Finns disgusting voice broke the silence as he stared at the girl longingly "now, hand her over, we will take very good care of her from here" He said still smiling, his cheerful tone was sickening.

"What do you intend to do with her?" Eric asked looking from her to Finn. Eric saw that the girl closed her eyes when Finn started speaking, a tear falling from the corner of one.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with huntsman" Finn said smiling, "now hand her over".

Eric looked at the girl again, no Sarah would not want him to be doing this, "I want what I was promised first" he said. At this the girl opened her eyes and whispered to him "sh-she's a devil, you won't get what you where promised she will kill you after she kills me". Eric had turned his slightly towards her to hear, still keeping his eyes on the men though. He knew this girl was right, he knew he had foolishly trusted the queen on a promise she wouldn't keep, and most likely couldn't keep. No one could bring people back from the dead, and he knew it.

Finns voice brought Eric out of his thoughts; he stole one last glance at the girl, and saw her eyes were wide begging him to believe her.

"You will get what you deserve, I can promise you that" Finn smiled sinisterly as the guards surrounded the huntsman "you will die just like the girl, you see, not even my sister, powerful as she may be, can raise people from the dead". He chuckled, happy to see the pain of defeat on the huntsman's face.

Eric looked at the girl, he remembered that the queen wanted her alive for whatever reason, so he grabbed her pulling her up against his chest so that she was facing Finn. He put his huge axe up against her throat, careful to not do any damage, but making sure it touched her.

"I will kill her" He said to Finn. "If the queen wants her alive, what would she do to you if she found out she died on your watch?" Eric asked. Finn stopped smiling. With a wave of his the guards backed down, and slowly stepped away waiting for orders. Than Eric quietly whispered in the girls ear "As soon as I let you go, run". She was going to nod her in understanding, but then remembered the axe pressed tight against her throat and stopped herself from making the fatal mistake. Eric continued staring at Finn, but out of the corner of his eye he was watching the guards waiting for the right moment to strike. After the many wars he had been through he was an experienced fighter and knew that if waited just a few more seconds for the guards he would have the advantage. Then he let go of the girl, throwing her behind him, she got up a sprinted off into the woods. The guards were slow from the heavy armor and Eric quickly out maneuvered him in spite of his size. His huge axe crushing their armor. When Eric was dealing with the last the archer in the group aimed at the huntsman, but Eric had been expecting it. He wrestled the helmet off the guard and then turned around so the archer's arrow sunk deep into the guard's throat. Before the bowman knew what had happened Eric threw one of knives, sinking it deep into the archer's chest. Finn stared at the huntsman, horrified, he turned to run, but tripped over a tree root, falling straight into a patch of mushrooms. Eric pulled a small yellowed scarf from around his neck up over his mouth so he wouldn't breath in the dust, then walked away from the sick man rolling on the ground in horror.

Snow White was still running, as and as fast as she could, but she was still tired form running the entire day before, and still a bit sick after breathing in the putrid powder from the mushrooms. She stopped for a moment to lean on a tree and rest when, suddenly someone grabbed her, putting a hand over her mouth and pulling her towards them. It was the huntsman who had spared her life and let her run. Why had he come back? What was in it for him? He was leaning over her, and slowly removed his hand when he thought she had finally calmed down. Snow felt the huntsman slowly help her to sit on the ground and then watched as he slowly sat down a few feet away from her.

"Thank you" Snow had said it so quietly that Eric almost didn't hear it, she stared at him for another moment and then shyly looked away.

"You're welcome" Eric said roughly, Snow looked at him and smiled, something she hadn't done in ten years. The huntsman looked around the tree to examine something and snow took the chance to look at rescuer a bit more closely. She realized he was actually quite handsome, even with dirt smeared on him. He had long blonde hair that was tied in the back, but quite a bit of it fell down out of the tie. He had a light beard, and bright blue eyes. They were beautiful, bright warm, so unlike the hard, cold eyes of the queen and her brother. Snow suddenly realized the reason she could see his eye so well was because he was looking at her. The huntsman had caught Snow White staring at him and was giving her quizzical look. She quickly looked away from him, clearly embarrassed.

Eric broke the awkward silence "So, do you want to tell me why the queen is hunting you, and who are you?" He stared at her for a second, still amazed by her beauty. She was about to answer when Eric's well trained ears picked up on the sound of someone walking behind the tee he was resting on. He quickly stood up, causing snow white to go stiff. He grabbed a knife from his belt and carefully peered around the tree. Seeing no one he stepped around a little further so that part of his chests was showing, it was just enough. The archer from the group of guards quickly loosed an arrow into Eric's chest, but the leather belt he wore stopped it from going too deep. He turned back around the tree and, ignoring the shocked look on the girls face, pulled the arrow. Apparently his knife hadn't gone as deep into the archer as he thought. Eric heard footsteps coming closer to where he was sitting and he quickly stood up. The archer slowly walked into the clearing where Eric and snow were, Eric grabbed the archer and slit his throat with the knife, this time making sure he was dead. Eric looked at the girl, who turned away, covering her mouth on the verge of tears. He swiftly walked to her grabbing her elbow and pulling her away from the dead body.

It was getting late and the dark forest was the last place Eric wanted to spend the night, but it seemed like that was what he was going to be doing. He turned around to find the girl staring at him again.

"the queen wanted might heart" she said quietly, "that's why she is hunting me, but I don't know why she wants mine". Snow White turned away, and Eric stared at her for a moment, trying to make sense of everything that just happened and what she just told him.

"The edge of the woods is that way" Eric said pointing "about 4 more miles, I don't suggest walking it tonight though".

Snow stared at him for a moment "what way are you going?' she asked.

Eric looked her; he hadn't really thought about it, he couldn't go back otherwise the queen would kill him. "I don't know" he answered quite truthfully.

"I would like to go the Duke Hammonds castle, if you know where it is you could take me there and I am sure he would let you stay" Snow said quietly. She desperately hoped he would agree to take her there, she didn't know how to survive in the forest like he obviously did. Also, she just felt so much safer with him around.

Eric looked at her and laughed "what's in it for me going there, I could go and stay pract-"

Before he could finish the girl cut him, "100 gold pieces" she said, silently begging for him to take her. The huntsman stared at her dumbfounded, how she would get 100 gold pieces? Maybe she knew the Duke, he reasoned.

"Alright" he said "I will take you there, in the morning though, the sun is setting and walking in the dark is asking for trouble".

As night slowly descended on them the temperature dropped and cold winds began to blow through the woods. Eric managed to start a fire with some fairly dry wood he found, Snow immediately moved closer to the fire. Snow watched as the huntsman took his shirt off revealing the deep gash in chest from the arrow that had hit him earlier. He chewed up strange looking plant then spit onto his hand to rub onto the wound.

**Authors Note: **

**If any one actually likes this than I will keep going with.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Sorry it took me so long to update, but I was cut off from the internet for awhile. **

As the night drew on, and the temperature dropped lower Snow White began to shiver, the thin dress she wore offering no protection to the cold night. The fire wasn't very warm either, any heat that it gave off was quickly pushed away by the wind. She glanced up at the huntsman; he didn't seem to be as cold as her, only shivering a little when the wind whipped them particularly hard.

Eric looked at the lovely girl shaking in the cool air. He felt like he should do something to warm her up, but what could he do? He had nothing with him that could stop the cold air from penetrating every inch of anyone's body. If he did he would gladly offer it to her. Eric wondered why he would. He had no reason to care about what happened to her, earlier that day he was even going to trade her life for someone elses! Maybe it was because his Sarah would have wanted him too, maybe she reminded him a little bit of her. The girl moving and slowly standing caught his attention; she had her arms wrapped around herself as she stepped loudly around the tiny fire to sit by him. Eric's eyes followed her every movement as she sat down next him. Not right next to him, but close enough. She looked at him for a moment, before staring at the fire once more. Eric watched he, she was so tense, so cold. He put his hand on shoulder, the sudden movement making her jump.

"Relax, you won't be as cold" he said. Snow stared at him, giving him a strange look before he said "being tense will make you colder". Eric watched as she slowly relaxed a little, and heard her quietly sigh, as her tense muscles loosened, he could feel her shoulder droop a little more under his hand now..

It really does help Snow thought, as relief flooded through; her body continued to shake, not so much from the cold but more from exhaustion. She jumped again as the huntsman removed his hand from her shoulder. Snow had forgotten he had placed it there, and her skin tingled from the sudden loss of warmth there. Eventually the huntsman drifted off to sleep, but Snow was reluctant to, fearful that if she fell asleep, she wake up in the tower again, only to find that this had all been a cruel dream. Fearful that she had been given a taste of the freedom from escaping, and she would only have it yanked out from under her. Morning came and Snow White woke up after forcing herself to sleep, she sighed happy that she awoke in the woods, that what had happened earlier had not been a dream. Snow rolled onto her side and found she was staring at handsome face, sleeping peacefully. She suddenly realized that it was the huntsman, and she hastily stood up, thankful he was sleeping. Then something caught her attention, it was the sun, slowly peeking through the trees, Snow stepped into the center of the clearing, watching the golden rays slowly rise. Snow closed her eyes, allowing the warmth from the sun beams to cover her, smiling to herself. It was the first time in ten years she could see the sun and was able to be completely bathed in its glorious light.

Eric woke up to bright light, surprisingly bright for the dark forest; he looked up squinting to see the girl standing in the sunlight. She looked even more beautiful he thought to himself. The girl opened her eyes and looked at the huntsman, realizing he was awake she awkwardly stepped off to the side embarrassed. Eric stared at her for a few more seconds than stood up and stomped out the last few burning embers from their fire.

"We should get going" Eric said to her, "now". As he walked away Snow quickly ran out of the clearing to follow him. The huntsman abruptly turned around, and looked at Snow before pressing the hilt of a knife into her hands. Snow stared at it blankly, unsure of what to do.

"If someone comes to attack you" he said, "raise your arm, like this" Eric pulled her arm up to block his, "to block the attack, and then shove the knife in them, here" he brought her hand with knife to rest just below his rib cage. "And don't pull it out until you see their soul leaving their eyes". Letting go of her Eric continued to walk forward slowly.

"I could never do that" Snow said, looking at the ground astonished that anyone could expect her to kill someone. Eric turned around to look at her then said "you won't have a choice".

At the Duke Hammonds castle William, along with 6 others, proudly pulled in 3 black carriages and heap of dead armor clad men. William saw his father and dismounted his horse swiftly walking over to meet him.

"William" the duke said sternly, "you disobeyed me again; you went outside the castle walls and attacked the Queens men again. I cannot afford to lose any more men to your defiance of rules" his father shouted quite flustered.

"Not a soul was lost, father" William said humbly. The duke sighed, defeated. "There is another you should know" Hammond continued "I have received word that the princess is still alive, and has actually escaped the Queens castle". William stared at his father in disbelief, she is alive he thought. The words raced through his mind a million times.

"I am going after her" William said and with that he turned on his heel and mounted his horse, with that he galloped off into the forest to find his childhood friend. The Duke shook his and then said a silent a prayer for his son's and the princess's safe return.

Eric turned around to see the girl again, for the fifth time, struggling to free her dress from a thicket of branches. He walked over to her, determined to make this the last time they stopped for the girls dress. Pulling a knife from his belt he bent down cut the fabric so it was much shorter. When Eric looked at her face he realized how much he had scared her. Eric had forgotten that it was just yesterday he was going to kill her with a similarly menacing weapon, and had pounced on her in a similar way. He swiftly backed away from her and the girl slowly relaxed. She stepped out of the thicket of nasty branches leaving the rest of her dress in them. They walked along until finally Eric could see the edge of the forest, there was small stream dividing the dark forest from the other woods, and strange bridge going over it. As he and Snow got closer Eric noticed that there were bones scattered everywhere and the rocks on the bridge seemed to be crumbling. It wasn't safe and Eric knew it, but he decided to take the bridge anyway.

Snow looked around as they slowly made their way across the bridge, she stayed as close to the huntsman as she could. Snow picked up on noise behind them, it sounded like something was moving very slowly. She looked at the huntsman and noticed he heard it too, and looked at little nervous. When they heard a louder noise they both turned around and huntsman quickly shoved her out of the way, shouting troll.

"Get to the other side" the huntsman screamed pushing her out of the way. Snow saw the troll hit the huntsman hard and he flew to the other side of the river landing hard on the ground. The troll headed towards him, and before Snow knew what she was doing she screamed at the troll getting all of its attention. The troll ran over to her and roared loudly at her, causing Snow to fall back onto the slope leading down to the river. But she knew she couldn't back down, it would certainly mean death from the troll. Slowly staring the monster in the eye snow rose to her feet, and cautiously reached out with her hand. Eric watched in disbelief as the troll actually bowed its head and walked away, who was this girl he wondered? He slowly stood up, and trudged over to her, still faint from the hard blow his head received.

"I told you to run" Eric said to the girl. There was something inside of him, that for whatever reason was completely relieved she was alive.

"If I ran you would be dead" Snow said a swell of pride in her chest. It was the loudest she had spoken since she had met him and to the huntsman it sounded like she was yelling. It caught him completely off guard. Eric stared her and then turned around and began to walk away. Usually he didn't ever, thank anyone for anything, but then again, he usually didn't receive help from anyone. But when Snow caught up with him, for whatever reason he told her "thank you", snow gave him a strange look as he said it. "For saving my life" Snow nodded her head than replied "you're welcome". Eric couldn't help but smile at her tiny voice shyly saying the words. Snow blushed furiously when he did, and looked away giggling, the huntsman followed suit by laughing, and soon enough, for whatever reason they were both laughing hysterically with each other.

**Authors Note: Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews, here is the third chapter!**

William waited in the gate way leading to the queen's castle for Finn and the group of guards that would be with him. He had has cloak pulled up over his head to keep the drizzling rain off of him and he held his bow tightly with an arrow, ready for anything. Finally he heard the loud clamor of hooves racing down the street. The men stopped in front of the strange man blocking the gate.

"do you need a bowman"? William asked loudly and clearly, and in a manner that said he wasn't asking. Finn smiled crookedly at William and answered him "I already have an archer" he said pointing to a large man with a wild looking demeanor. "Kill him" Finn said to the archer. The bowman released the arrow, but William was ready and was able to quickly dodge the arrow and loose his own. Unlike the archer's arrow, Williams found its target deep in the throat of the other bowman. William repeated his question "do you need a bowman"? Finn smiled again, happy to have a much better archer now in his possession, completely unaware of William's real intentions.

Snow and Eric continued walking through woods silently, Eric always a few steps ahead. Snow looked over at the huntsman; the silence was killing her, so much of her life she was silent, being locked away in tower for so many years. The only people to talk to were the beautiful girls that would randomly show up and then end up not saying a word after having the same fate as Greta. Snow looked up at the huntsman, determined to start a conversation.

"You never told me your name" snow said quietly, apparently too quietly. The huntsman turned around and looked at her "Did you say something"? He asked confused. Snow stared at him for a moment then replied "uh… you never told me your name". The huntsman nodded then turned around and kept walking; Snow watched him and then ran to catch up with him. "You have a name don't you"? Snow said playfully. Eric looked at her then walked faster, he didn't want to get any more attached to her, he knew he was going to leave her at the Dukes castle then head out from there. When he looked back at the girl he saw she was still waiting for him to answer. Sighing in regret he told her his name "Eric". Snow looked up at him surprised; she hadn't expected him to tell her "Eric" snow said a smile tugging at her lips. Eric reached his hand out to her, Snow took it cautiously and they shook hands, "nice to meet you" Snow said laughing a little. After a few more moments they continued walking. As the forest became thinner the ground became more like a swamp and small water plants were growing. Eventually they found themselves tramping through tall grass in water up to their knees. When they reached the end, there were small boats and with women in them. Each one facing them, they had cloths hiding their faces and bows and arrows ready. Finally one of the women in the front boat, who seemed to be the leader, spoke.

"No one makes it through the dark forest except demons or criminals" she stared scrutinizing them then asked "Which are you"?.

"Neither" Eric answered almost relieved. The women looked at Snow and then nodding to one another took them back to their villages.

"My name is Meris" the lead women informed them as she led Snow and Eric into her hut, "and this" Meris said showing them a young girl "is my daughter brook". Meris noticed Snow looking at all the women who had strange scars on their faces. "It is a sacrifice we make" Meris said gesturing to the scars on her own cheeks, "So we can raise out children in peace". Snow eventually ended up sitting on the dock with brook, helping her make crude straw dolls, much like the ones Snow had made in her cell.

Meris looked at the huntsman and watched as he touched his shoulder and winced.

"What is wrong with your shoulder huntsman"? Meris inquired. Eric looked at her shocked and embarrassed that she had noticed.

"I pulled got an arrow shot into it" he said grimly. Meris nodded then walked into her hut returning to Eric with a small bowl of a strange green substance. She helped Eric to take off his shirt and then began carefully placing the green matter over the wound. He winced and then looked over at Snow playing with the young girl. Snow glanced up and caught his look, she smiled innocently before Brook asked her something about one of the dolls. Meris saw it and then asked the huntsman,

"So how is it that a huntsman like yourself ends up as protector of the princess and possibly the one who captures her help"? Eric was stunned, the princess, as in princess Snow White? He asked himself.

"Well"? Meris asked, "Don't tell me you don't know". Eric looked at Snow and then back at Meris who was still applying the green medicine too his wound. "I didn't know" Eric said still dumbfounded.

Meris smiled, "I am surprised you didn't, she is very easy to recognize, everyone thought she was she dead". When Meris was finished Eric walked over to Snow, his heart sinking, "your mother wants you" he said to Brook. With that the child went scampering away with her new doll.

"you could have told me" Eric said sadly; he turned and slowly walked away. Snow sat shocked, and upset that he was clearly hurt. She jumped up and ran to catch up with him.

"I was afraid if I told you would leave" Snow said, fearful that he would leave. She had never felt like this about someone before, and the thought of him leaving made her tremble. She watched miserably as he said good bye and continued walking away. Watched with an awful sinking feeling in her stomach as Meris tried to stop.

"You can't just leave her" Meris said exasperated, "who will take her to the Dukes castle"? Eric tried to shut her out and keep walking; he was very relieved when Meris finally left him. Eric knew he had to leave her, everything he loved or cared about was always taken away from him and he couldn't endanger Snow in that way. For some reason though he couldn't help but feel he was making the wrong choice. When he was just on the edge of the forest, he leaned against a tree and stared back painfully at the village. The sun was setting and he knew he had to leave. As he started to trudge away he thought he heard something, he had no idea what it was, but to be on the safe side he headed began to head back to the village.

Meris showed Snow a bed in her hut where she could spend before retiring herself. Snow lay in the bed blinking back tears; the huntsman had left, this was all she could think about. Suddenly she heard a loud roar and screams. Racing outside Snow saw a straw hut was on fire, the flames on it threatening the other huts. Behind the screaming blaze were the Queens guards. The women were frantically ushering their children to the boats trying to escape the flames. Snow raced back into the hut and grabbed Brook throwing her onto a boat and then yelling for Meris. She felt like she should stay and defend the women somehow because she had brought this upon them, but Meris yelled for her to get onto the boat. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed her; she struggled hard against then remembered the knife from Eric. She yanked out of her boot and jabbed the man's arm. William reeled back in pain, he tried to grab her again, but she jabbed at him with knife. He didn't have time to explain, the other guards were coming and if they didn't leave soon they would be incinerated like the straw huts. Then another man grabbed him from behind and threw him onto the ground, Snow willingly took his hand and raced off with the huntsman into the woods. William lay on the ground dazed and upset, Snow had looked so relieved to see him, and even though William barely knew him, he couldn't help but be jealous.

Finally Snow collapses with exhaustion against a tree; Eric was yanked back by her suddenly falling because he was still holding her hand. Snow gulped in air, then staring at her hands breathlessly said

"You left". She glanced up at the huntsman then hung her head still out of breath; his breathing was ragged as hers.

"I'm sorry, I won't leave you again" He said to her, and then before he realized what he was doing he said "I promise".

Eric woke before Snow, he would have enjoyed watching her sleep, to see her so at peace without the worlds troubles plaguing her beauty. But not now, the queen's men were chasing them and they needed to keep moving. He carefully placed his hand over her mouth and shook her awake. As soon as Snow was standing, they continued walking.

As they were walking into clearing Snow stumbled on a branch running into Eric just as he stepped into a trap. A rope swiftly tightened around both their legs so they were back to back. Eric was dizzy from suddenly being turned upside down. Through his hazy vision he could make out small figures heading towards them and could hear rough voices.

"oh No..Dwarves" he said hoarsely. The dwarves made a semicircle around the huntsman examining them. One walked up to them and cut a small bag from Eric's belt and shook a single copper coin out of it.

"That's it"? One dwarf asked. The one holding the bag spat and nodded irritated.

"What should we do with them"? One asked. Finally Eric spoke up,

"The queens men are hunting us, cut us down so we can go" he said upset.

"We should kill 'em" a blonde haired dwarf said. A little red haired dwarf had walked over and looked Snow White, he smiled at her and Snow couldn't help but smile back. He was so cute she though, he didn't seem at all like the other ones. His smile brightened when he saw he do the same,

"She's pretty" he said to the others, but they ignored him.

"I don't like killin' women" the blonde haired one said.

"I don't mind it" said one that was almost and was holding knife. The blonde haired one looked at him then said, "good, you do it". He started to move toward them and Snow panicked.

"Wait…, I am the princess Snow White" she said, "My father was king Magnus". The man stopped, and looked at the other dwarves.

"Does she speak the truth"? He asked.

"Yes" an old blind dwarf in the back spoke up, "She truly is". Suddenly they heard the sound of horses running. They dwarves quickly cut Snow and Eric down, then took off running, Eric grabbed Snow and raced off after the dwarves.

**Authors Note: Please keep reading and reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4

Eric and Snow followed the dwarves into cave; the entrance to it was covered by thick green vines and leaves. The Dwarves had stopped running, no longer afraid of being captured; as they walked farther into the cave, Snow could see a light at the end. Finally they walked out of the cave and into a lush green forest. Animals stared at them as they ventured farther into the woods, the animals were miraculous, and everything was so full of life. It was the only place that the queen's darkness had not reached. Snow could hear soft music all around them.

"Blasted fairie music" one of the dwarves grumbled. The little red haired one looked at Snow and smiled,

"they call it sanctuary, m'lady" he said, "the land of the fairies". They stopped in large clearing and the dwarves started a fire in the center. One of them had small fiddle and played upbeat songs on it, the rest of them talked and drank. Snow sat quietly by herself looking around. She looked over at Eric as he took a swig of Ale and laughed at something the blonde haired dwarf said. Snow was about to go over and say something to him when Gus, the red haired dwarf interrupted her,

"Would you like to dance"? He asked shyly. Snow smiled and nodded, taking his hand Gus led her to the other side of the fire where they danced. It was a strange dance that she had never seen before so she did her best to follow Gus. The song ended and Snow for some reason ended up sitting by Eric; they were listening to the blonde-haired dwarf, Gort.

"We didn't always used to be thieves" he said, "we used to be proud". He stopped talking and took a gulp of ale, shaking his head. Eventually the fire was reduced to a few glowing embers and the group fell asleep. When Snow was sure he was asleep she went and laid closer to Eric, Snow knew that he would wake up before her, but she could make up an excuse for moving in the morning.

Snow was awakened in the morning by a soft tapping on her head; she sat up quietly and looked around. Two birds were staring at her. They were white with black markings on their body and wings, Snow couldn't believe it. These were the birds who showed her the nail that let her escape the North Tower, and showed her the white horse which carried her to the dark forest. She stared at them a bit longer, and then to her amazement, two fairies crawled out of the birds stomachs. They smiled at Snow and motioned for her to follow them. She stood up and watched as the fairies turned into two small glowing balls that floated in front her. They swiftly flew off into the forest, and Snow raced after them, accidentally kicking some leaves onto Eric.

Eric was awoken by damp leaves landing on his face, he brushed them off then slowly sat up, still drunk from the all the ale. He looked around him and then noticed that Snows blanket was right next his, but she was not there. He quickly stood up and frantically looked around, a million things rushing through his mind. The dwarves were woken from the noise of him running off in the direction Snow had gone, they quickly got up and followed him. They found Snow slowly approaching a large white deer on a small island in the center of a pond. All the animals watched and fairies were watching her as she reached her hand out towards the deer. Its coat was a bright white and its antlers looked branches of tree and were as big the deer. Eric started to walk towards her, but Gort stopped him saying,

"Careful Huntsman, no one has ever seen this before". Eric looked at the little man then back Snow as she lightly touched the deer's muzzle. Gus whispered what was happening to the old blind dwarf, Muir.

"It is blessing her" Muir said, "She is life itself". Eric looked at Muir strangely then back Snow, who was petting the huge animal and smiling, completely unaware of what was happening around her. Then from out of now where an arrow hit the deer's chest, the animal stared at her and then broke into thousands of white butterflies that frantically flying away. The animals ran and hid, and for the first since Snow had got there the Fairies music ceased. Clouds began to darken the sky and the trees and plants withered; the sound of horses now filled the forest. Suddenly Finn, riding atop a black stallion burst into the clearing. Eric screamed for Snow to run and grabbed his huge, swinging it wildly as he ran towards a laughing Finn. Gus ran after Snow and then saw an archer, immediately fearing for Snow Whites life he sprinted in front of her knocking her to the ground.

William watched the dwarf race towards his Snow, he quickly released an arrow sinking it deep into the tiny man's back. William was horrified when Snow rolled him off her gently and removed the arrow comforting and calling him by his name. This wasn't an enemy, he realized, the dwarf was protecting Snow. His heart broke when he saw tears running Snows face, he quickly dismounted his horse and approached Snow. He put his arm around her, and she started to fight him, but when she looked up and saw who it was she stopped.

"William" she asked, "your working with the Queen"?.

William answered her "No, I was looking for you, I thought he was going to hurt you" William said sorrowfully. Snow shook her head and pushed herself away from William; the dwarves arrived and she began to explain what had happened.

Eric was still fighting Finn back at the clearing, he had seen an archer go the way Snow had, but Gus had gone with her. Eric couldn't really believe that he trusted her life with him, but then again he couldn't really believe anything that was happening. Finally he saw the way to kill Finn, or at least pin him down to give them enough time to escape. No matter what Eric did Finn would heal, almost instantly, Eric thought that it might be the queen. Eric hit Finn's hand knocking his cane away from him than back Finn up so he was close to a fallen tree trunk with thick sharp branches protruding from it. Finn waited a moment then attempted to turn and grab his weapon. But Eric reacted faster and shoved Finn onto the tree trunk, and watched as Finn took his last breath. Eric raced off in the direction he had seen Snow run praying nothing had happened to her. He found her kneeling on the ground over Gus another man behind her and the dwarves bowing their heads. After a few minutes the dwarves moved Gus to a place where they would cremate him and Eric decided he could ask what happened. Snow sorrowfully explained then introduced him to William.

"Nice to meet you" William said holding out his hand, waiting for Eric to shake it. Eric eyed him carefully before responding.

"Ya" he said gruffly as grabbed Williams hand and shook it roughly; one of the dwarves, Beith, appeared and said,

"We're saying our final goodbyes, if you would like to join us you are welcome to". Snow nodded and then left with little dwarf, William moved to follow her, but a strong arm pulled him back. It was the huntsman.

"Something the matter"? William asked casually.

"Explain it to me again" Eric said "Why were you traveling with the Queen"?. William was stunned, no one had ever not believed him before.

"To find Snow" he replied hastily attempting to free himself from Eric's grasp. "She trusts me" William added hoping to gain Eric's favor. Eric leaned a little closer to William so that he could hear him, then said,

"If you are lying, and harm so much as a hair on her head, I will hunt you down and kill you myself" Eric released William, waiting for him to do something.

William outraged, how could this man think he would ever harm Snow, "how dare you-" William began to say, but he was cut off by Gort yelling for them to join everyone else for Gus's funeral. Eric gestured for William to go, but William was not budging. Eric snarled when William did not move, he roughly grabbed his arm to push William forward. But before he could, William hooked his leg around Eric's knee and stepped back, causing Eric to fall. Eric jumped up and grabbed one of his knives as William fitted his bow with an arrow. They were at a stalemate now and they knew it, but neither of them backed down. Suddenly Snow walked into the clearing and they both lowered their weapons as quickly as possible, Snow gave them both disapproving looks like a mother scolding her children.

"They are waiting" She said politely, but sternly. She watched as neither moved, "William could you come here"? She asked. When William was finally by her she put her hand on his back and gently ushered him away then glancing at Eric, followed William. Eric waited a few more moments then slowly began to walk out of the clearing. He was still trying to shake the feeling that William was going to bring harm to Snow, intentionally or not, he somehow would.


End file.
